young

Kurosawa’s Masterpiece, The Seven Samurai exclusive to PS2
Posted By: LiverAndOnions

SOURCE: E3



May 14, 2003 - A game based on the classic movie was announced today, let's hope they do this masterpiece justice.


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Sammy Studios, Inc., a developer, publisher and global distributor of interactive entertainment content, today unveiled Seven Samurai 20XX, the video game inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s classic film The Seven Samurai. The debut of the title, a collaborative effort involving world-renowned artists, took place at a press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. The event was attended by luminaries involved in the creation of the game, among them Hisao Kurosawa, son of the late director of the classic film, and Moebius, the legendary French comic artist who designed character concepts for the title. Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Academy Award® winning composer who created the game’s opening and ending music score, delivered a video message at the event.

Lead members of the development team from Dimps were also on hand to help unveil the game, which is being featured as a playable title at Sammy’s booth (West Hall #2200) for the duration of E3. Seven Samurai is exclusively for Sony PlayStation® 2 and is slated for release for this year’s holiday season.

“Seven Samurai 20XX is an exciting video game title on many levels,” said John Rowe, president of Sammy Studios. “It takes a film that has transcended generations and recreates it as an intense action game set in the future, and pays proper homage to the masterpiece that inspired it as a collaborative and artistically-driven effort.”

Seven Samurai 20XX brings video gamers a Samurai combat game inspired by the classic The Seven Samurai, the Akira Kurosawa film considered by many to have set standards for modern day action movies. The title takes the film’s timeless tale of chivalry in the face of greed and aggression into a not-too-distant future. It is a time when humans have overcome a near apocalypse but still face a treacherous enemy; one employing an army of mechanical beasts and humanoids. Seven Samurai 20XX puts players in the role of the young Ronin Natoe.

very interesting...

V-ism

It's terrible.

stingo

Since this is dvdtalk, and not a video game board per se, I'd suggest seeing the movie on Criterion's DVD.

Groucho

What are you talking about? This is the "Video Game Talk" forum.

young

it's got some big names. i'm a big fan of moebius and of course, the seven samurai tie-in (sort-of... barely?).

anyway, i don't have any high expectations or anything but, imo, it's still more interesting than a lot of other games that were announced.

--
btw, i've seen the movie - about 20 times!

illennium

As a huge fan of Kurosawa and cheap cash-ins, I'm very excited about this game.

~~ PAL ~~

The semblence to the classic Kurosawa flick with this game maybe only on the title alone, plus a similar premise to the situation of the seven samurais going up against the evil hoard.

From what I saw at E3, there were 2 (maybe 3?) girls available as playable samurais, and you get to fight a bunch of undeads. So it's possible it's a cheap cash-in, since I didn't get a good chance to evaluate the game on its merits alone.

C-Killer Redux

Kurosawa'a son is also involved in the making of the game. From playing it the game feels very rough and repetitive. I've played it for about 15 minutes. I'd say it was a demo, but the game kept going on and on. I was waiting for it to end and eventually just stopped playing cause I didn't want to ruin the whole game for myself. Here's my impressions:

Graphics: Gorgeous, Square-like style due to Moebius' designs and very vibrant. Takes a dip as the enemies are generally the same for the beginning portion with no difference at all.

Sound: Voices are okay, need help but this looks like the final localized version. Music is generic techno stuff. Fits the future setting. Nothing special here at all.

Gameplay: So far it's a straight up hack and slash. Pure and simple. Sad to say.

First Impression: As a huge fan of the movie(it's my favorite of all time) I was disappointed to find the direction they took with the game. Then I watched the inyterviews with Moebius and Kurosawa's son and was eager to give it a chance. Sorry to say that right now, it's a straight up beat em up/hack and slash game. The style looks more like Akira and other futuristic anime and bears no resemblance whatsoever to Kurosawa's original movie. I'll give it a rent once it comes out, but already the game left me with a sour taste in my mouth.

funkyryno

Will this game be black and white?

victant

Just as funny in EGM.

Trigger

I hope they start doing Wong Kar Wai video games... I can't wait to play In the Mood for Love.

Josh Z

So long as they put it into a futuristic setting with anime backgrounds, it should be great!

goLUCKY

Is it a cell shaded game?

~~ PAL ~~

It's not, more like a 3-D fighting (hack and slash) type game.

stingo

Yes, the Video Game Talk portion of dvdTalk - not a purely gaming site. Just meant that since dvds and movies are primarily discussed at dvdtalk, whoever was interested in playing the game might want to see the film (assuming that they had a strong interest in dvds and movies to be at dvdtalk in the first place).

~~ PAL ~~

Your two posts have made very little sense to me so far. Did you see or play the game in E3? Why do you keep telling everyone to go see the movie? And why can't people that frequent DVDTalk be avid gamers as well?

I have seen the movie, and played the demo at E3 last week. There really aren't much in common between the game content and the movie itself...

young

um, ok. thanks for that advice.

i may be out on a limb here, but i think it's safe to say that most people here HAVE SEEN the movie.

Trigger

I haven't seen it - not a huge Kurosawa fan.

young

are you interested in the game? if so, you should take stingo's advice seriously and immediately rent the dvd. yay, stingo

~~ PAL ~~

Ya, you'll never get the philosophical aspects of the game unless you watch the movie plus the commentary back to back.

illennium

Make sure to pay attention during the scene in which Toshiro Mifune's character explains how to double-jump.